SUMMARY:
Having bad breath is not just a personal issue but a social one. After all, few of us spend every day alone. We've all had the experience of smelling someone's oral odor and being repulsed by it. Unfortunately, studies indicate that there is always a 25 percent likelihood that that someone is you.

Posted: August 9, 2011

Having bad breath is not just a personal issue but a social one. After all, few of us spend every day alone. We've all had the experience of smelling someone's oral odor and being repulsed by it. Unfortunately, studies indicate that there is always a 25 percent likelihood that that someone is you.

A report published in the Journal of Periodontal Research estimated that at any one time, one-quarter of adults have halitosis levels high enough to be considered "unacceptable" by others.

Regardless of what causes the smell of bad breath, getting rid of it is essential, since a report in the journal Health Renaissance states that oral odor can cause serious social trouble.

"Though this complaint of bad breath has existed from time immemorial, it...is being increasingly recognized as a social stigma in an ever-growing sensitive society," the authors emphasized.

Because industrialized nations tend to have clean citizens, people in the U.S. are especially sensitive to the smell of a dirty mouth. Using oral care probiotics, a specialty tongue scraper or alcohol-free rinses with chlorhexidine can reduce your oral odor before it becomes a big problem.